Image sensors are used in many modern electronic devices including phones, cars, computers, gaming systems, etc. In many of these systems capturing undistorted, in-focus images is critically important. For instance, in cars, image distortion or loss of focus could cause problems viewing the road (e.g., when backing up). In gaming applications, knowing the accurate location of a user is critical, and a distorted image that causes the user's location to be recorded inaccurately could materially change the outcome of a game.
High-performance image sensors produce a lot of heat. This heat could be absorbed by components surrounding the image sensor. The surrounding components may expand as a result of the increased heat. These expansions may shift the position of the image sensor. Moreover, image sensors are often precisely aligned with other optical components, so small shifts in image sensor location due to thermal transfer may shift the positions of those optical components relative to the image sensor. This movement may cause the image to become distorted or out of focus.